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Für Tommy und Eva!
رقم الكائنM1991/043:001
العنوانFür Tommy und Eva!
المنشيء Leo Haas (artist)
الوصفEtching by Leo Haas of inmates lying in a confined and cramped space on wooden beds, most likely in the infirmary in Theresienstadt. It bears a pencil inscription, "Für Tommy und Eva!" (For Tommy and Eva). The number 74 (or 76) appears beneath the artist's signature on the bottom right corner (likely indicating the date of production).
Leo Haas (1901-1983) was born in Opava, Czechoslovakia. In 1919 he attended the Karlsruhe Art Academy. Haas moved to Berlin in 1922, where he was influenced by German Expressionism, Goya, and Toulouse-Lautrec. After moving to Vienna in 1925 he worked as an illustrator for the working-class press. In 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland border of Czechoslovakia – which included Opava – Haas’s work was denounced as degenerate. As a Jew and also a Communist, he was arrested in 1939 and deported first to Nisko labour camp then to forced labour in Ostrava. While in Ostrava he became involved in the underground, helping to smuggle people out of the country. He was arrested for smuggling in August 1942 and transported to Theresienstadt. He was assigned to the Technical Department, producing maps, charts, artwork and propaganda materials for the German SS camp administrators, in preparation for the June 1944 Red Cross visit. His work in the Technical Department provided access to art supplies which he and a group of other artists, including Bedrich Fritta, secretly used to depict the real horrors of ghetto life. Some artwork was smuggled out of the ghetto, while the remainder – some 400 works – were hidden in walls or buried. In June 1944, the artists were imprisoned in the Small Fortress and brutally tortured for information regarding the dissemination of their artworks. In October, Haas was deported to Auschwitz. One month later, he was transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was assigned to a work detail counterfeiting foreign currency. In February 1945 he was transported to Mauthausen and Ebensee, where he was liberated. He returned to Theresienstadt to recover his hidden works. He was reunited with his wife Erna, and adopted the son of Bedrich Fritta, an artist and friend who had been murdered in Auschwitz.
Leo Haas (1901-1983) was born in Opava, Czechoslovakia. In 1919 he attended the Karlsruhe Art Academy. Haas moved to Berlin in 1922, where he was influenced by German Expressionism, Goya, and Toulouse-Lautrec. After moving to Vienna in 1925 he worked as an illustrator for the working-class press. In 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland border of Czechoslovakia – which included Opava – Haas’s work was denounced as degenerate. As a Jew and also a Communist, he was arrested in 1939 and deported first to Nisko labour camp then to forced labour in Ostrava. While in Ostrava he became involved in the underground, helping to smuggle people out of the country. He was arrested for smuggling in August 1942 and transported to Theresienstadt. He was assigned to the Technical Department, producing maps, charts, artwork and propaganda materials for the German SS camp administrators, in preparation for the June 1944 Red Cross visit. His work in the Technical Department provided access to art supplies which he and a group of other artists, including Bedrich Fritta, secretly used to depict the real horrors of ghetto life. Some artwork was smuggled out of the ghetto, while the remainder – some 400 works – were hidden in walls or buried. In June 1944, the artists were imprisoned in the Small Fortress and brutally tortured for information regarding the dissemination of their artworks. In October, Haas was deported to Auschwitz. One month later, he was transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was assigned to a work detail counterfeiting foreign currency. In February 1945 he was transported to Mauthausen and Ebensee, where he was liberated. He returned to Theresienstadt to recover his hidden works. He was reunited with his wife Erna, and adopted the son of Bedrich Fritta, an artist and friend who had been murdered in Auschwitz.
الموضوعconcentration camps, art
اسم الكائنetchings
الأبعاد
- plate / image only width: 280.00 mm
height: 210.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Tom And Eva Rona